The final episode of WCW Thunder opens with Booker T heading to the ring. He says that while it saddens him to know that WCW and Turner are parting ways after so many years, he can’t wait to find out what comes next for WCW; but he knows what comes next for Booker T, and that’s the time he gets his hands back on that WCW World title. Booker says that at SuperBrawl he got screwed by the time limit, but that won’t happen to him again, so he wants the so-called “new owner” to give him Scott Steiner right away! But Booker doesn’t get either of the Steiners, instead he is joined by the man who eliminated him during the battle royal this past Monday, Lance Storm! Major Gunns stands at his side as Storm tells Booker that nobody cares about Booker’s chase for the title anymore; it is about to be a new era in World Championship Wrestling, and that era will be when Lance Storm finally wins the final title in WCW, the World championship! Booker tells Storm that he snuck up on him to eliminate him on Monday, but when they meet tonight it’ll be man to man, face to face, save the drama for yo’ mama! Storm warns him that he has a promise for Booker tonight: at the end of this evening, the final WCW Thunder, the thing people will remember is that Lance Storm stood tall! Lance was a bit of a disappointment at first when fans were hoping to see Scott Steiner, but this segment definitely got the show off to a strong start. (A)

“Mean” Gene brings “The Nature Boss” Ric Flair to the stage, and Flair is definitely animated this evening. He talks about how much WCW means to him and to all the people of Atlanta, and how this Monday’s episode of Nitro from Club La Vela will be the end of an era but also the chance for a new beginning. He runs down the card that he has prepared for the Night of Champions, which of course includes the steel cage match between Scott Steiner and Kevin Nash, but also two surprise contenders for Jeff Jarrett’s United States title and Shane Douglas’s Hardcore championship. Also, Lance Storm and Shawn Stasiak defend their newly won Tag Team titles against the Natural Born Thrillers in a rematch from Greed, and Chavo Guerrero Jr. faces off against one of the men who made the Cruiserweight title mean so much all those years on Nitro, Rey Mysterio Jr.! Gene says that this will be a night to remember for years to come, and he can’t wait to be a part of it! Okerlund adds that we are also to hear from the new owner of WCW? Flair agrees, and says that even as CEO, he doesn’t know what that’s about! Ric adds that he will have a special challenge of his own as well, so make sure to tune into the Night of Champions! Gene pumps up the crowd more, masterfully working the crowd as Flair improvises well by staying on point. Tune into Nitro! (B-)

Tony, Mike, and Scott talk about how our next match is a six man tag team Italian Street Fight featuring the Mamalukes against the new group known as the Problem Solvers, but who is the partner of the Mamalukes? Big Vito and Johnny the Bull answer that question right away, as Vito says that fighting is just something families do sometimes, but eventually they get past it; their partner is Vito’s brother, Reno! (D)

The bout is a very brisk brawl, which is both hampered and helped by the commentary team who can’t decide whether Tony should talk over Mike or if Mike and Scott should gel perfectly together. Disqo doesn’t quite fit right in this type of brawling match, but everyone has a few moments to hit a few weapon shots on someone of the other team before CW ducks a wild spinning wheel kick from Reno before drilling him with a spinebuster to pick up the win at 3:48. (D)

A pre-taped promo airs featuring “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash, as he talks about how Scott Steiner will have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no chance in heaven or Earth to escape the soon-to-be new WCW World champion, Kevin Nash! The promo was kept short, but got all the proper points across. (B)

The Jung Dragons collide, but they barely have time to do much other than have a few aerial stalemates before Scott Steiner comes to the ring and beats both of them down with his lead pipe at 3:43. The crowd were turned off somewhat by a match between two heels and didn’t care for not having a finish, but the split of the Dragons means no more bad chemistry between Kaz and Leia Meow, while Yang will continue having the benefit of his good chemistry with Meow. (D)

“Big Poppa Pump” gets a microphone after that show of force, and begins a show of confidence. He talks about how all last year, he moved up the ranks of WCW until finally he got his chance at the World title, and he took that too! He has held WCW under his thumb like it was a bug under his foot! He has scared Ric Flair into retirement, sent Sting out of the company, and nobody’s seen “Kim’s blond bitch” since he beat him at Greed! He talks about how Booker T isn’t worth his time and how Nash and Sid need to just turn away before they get into a fight that they can’t win! Steiner says that there’s no one else who can stand up to him, and that WCW should just close up because no one is left who can stand up to “The Man with the Largest Arms in the World”! Scott really comes across well here, but this segment isn’t over yet…

This looks like someone who can stand up to Scott Steiner! Goldberg marches out of the backstage area and gets in the ring, standing nose to nose with Steiner! Neither man backs down an inch, and Doug Dillinger quickly leads WCW Security into the ring to try and get in between these two before they tear one another apart! All of the commentators seemed pretty weak in this segment, while Goldberg came out of this looking excellent. The crowd are absolutely on fire now, really wanting to see these two go at it! (A)

Kanyon comes to the ring, saying that he’s not going to be overlooked in WCW ever again now that a new era is on its way; but soon, everyone will be saying it’s the era of Kanyon, and everyone will know that nobody is better than Kanyon! “The Cat” and Ms. Jones interrupt, with Ernest Miller saying that the only one who thinks Kanyon is better than anyone is his mama, and somebody better call her up because he’s about to whip Kanyon’s ass! (C-)

Kanyon certainly proves his words, outwrestling Miller for the majority of their match. They calm the crowd down here well. Kanyon is about to put this away, when Ms. Jones catches his eye by throwing Miller’s red shoe into the ring. He goes over to yell at her, telling her to stay out of this, when “The Cat” puts the dancing shoe on and scores with the Feliner kick! Miller lands on top and gets the pinfall at 3:53, maybe he is better than Kanyon!

Kanyon is incensed! He can’t believe he lost, and he attacks Miller from behind as soon as he can! Kanyon throws “The Cat” into the guardrail, and he ready to do more to him when Ms. Jones steps in the way, trying to shield Ernest from more damage. But that was her worst mistake, as Kanyon grabs her and hits her with a Flatliner out on the hard concrete floor! Miller shoves Kanyon, trying to get to him as Kanyon bails, laughing! “The Cat” holds an unconscious Ms. Jones as EMTs rush the scene! (D+)

From that horrific scene, we go backstage where Booker T is lacing up his boots. Our final Thunder main event is next! (B-)

Booker T and Lance Storm do battle with Booker gaining an early advantage with his explosive offense, but Storm finds an opening when he is able to catch Booker charging with a clothesline, injuring his shoulder against the turnbuckle. We note that the two really don’t click in the ring at about this point, but the match carries on. Lance may be known for his Canadian Maple Leaf crab submission, but he is a much more gifted wrestler than that, and he zeroes in on Booker’s arm as if his name was Anderson instead of Storm. The crowd are buzzing to try and bring Booker back into the bout, and he fights back up off the ground by catching Storm coming off the ropes with a Harlem Sidekick! Booker hits the axe kick and starts to Spinarooni back to his feet, but it’s obvious his shoulder is damaged. Undeterred, Booker goes for the Book End, but Storm is able to take Booker down into an armbar, and Storm mounts Booker’s back while applying pressure! Booker repeatedly tries to get to the ropes, but Storm is able to keep him at bay – finally the damage already done to the arm is too much, and Booker T is forced to tap out! No one in the audience likes it, but at 17:46, Lance Storm’s promise comes true as he is the last thing being talked about on the finale of WCW Thunder! (C+)

AskWCW.com has a question coming from thebigbad1013 from aol.com, who asks Lance Storm since he is always being so serious, what does he do if he’s not being serious (if that ever happens!). Storm answers that if you want to be the best, you have little time for foolishness. But he claims that when he isn’t training, he takes in the occasional movie. For instance, he says that he recently watched the new X-Men movie; saying that he sympathized with Magneto because he was the most powerful man in the world and everyone should bow down to him, but there were always people like Charles Xavier standing in the way of him taking over the world, much like Storm has Americans like Dustin Rhodes or Booker T always standing in his way from taking over WCW! (B-)

The Professor’s Picks: Best of Nitro edition goes back to July 6th, 1998, when Goldberg faced off with Hollywood Hogan in the Georgia Dome. In front of the rabid Atlanta crowd, Goldberg won the World Heavyweight championship! Will he ever get to hold that big gold belt again? Only time will tell! (A*)

In a non-title match, “The Franchise” Shane Douglas uses a chain from his boot to defeat Johnny the Bull in 9:07. (C)

After the match, Shane takes a microphone and talks about how he can’t wait for the new era of WCW, because it’s going to become the era of “The Franchise”! (B-)

Mike and Scott are in the studio discussing the upcoming series finale of Nitro and the Night of the Champions that it will be, when the lights go out. When they come back on, they have a surprise guest: Vampiro! He tells the two that WCW should have died, because it has plenty of sins committed under its name. But since it didn’t die, then he will make WCW and anyone who stands up for WCW pay for those sins! The lights go out again, and he disappears, leaving Tenay and Hudson alone again, questioning what that means! (D+)